Court Orders Retrial for Mubarak

Court Orders Retrial for Mubarak

Article excerpt

CAIRO --

An Egyptian appeals court on Sunday overturned Hosni Mubarak's
life sentence and ordered a retrial of the ousted leader in the
killing of hundreds of protesters, a ruling likely to further
unsettle a nation still reeling from political turmoil and
complicate the struggle of his Islamist successor to assert his
authority.

The court's decision put the spotlight back on the highly
divisive issue of justice for Mr. Mubarak and his top security
officers, who were also ordered retried, two years after the
revolution that toppled him.

The ruling poses a distraction for President Mohammed Morsi as he
tries to restore law and order, grapple with a wrecked economy and
deal with the aftermath of the worst political crisis since Mr.
Mubarak's ouster.

A new trial is virtually certain to dominate national headlines,
attracting attention away from a crucial election for a new house of
deputies roughly three months from now. Mr. Morsi and his Islamist
allies are determined to win a comfortable majority in the new
chamber, allowing them to take the helm of the most populous Arab
nation.

The ailing 84-year-old Mr. Mubarak is currently being held in a
military hospital and will not walk free after Sunday's decision. He
remains under investigation in an unrelated case.

A small crowd of Mubarak loyalists erupted into applause after
the ruling was announced. Holding portraits of the former president
aloft, they broke into chants of "Long live justice!" Another
jubilant crowd later gathered outside the Cairo hospital where Mr.
Mubarak is being held, passing out candies to pedestrians and
motorists.

Still, the crowds paled in comparison to the immediate reaction
to Mr. Mubarak's conviction and sentencing in June, when thousands
took to the streets, some in celebration and others in anger that he
escaped the death penalty.

Sunday's muted reaction indicates the fate of Egypt's ruler of
nearly three decades may, at least for now, have been reduced to a
political footnote in a country sagging under the weight of a
crippling economic crisis and anxious over its future direction
under the rule of Islamists.

No date has been set for the retrial, but attention is sure to
dramatically pick up when it begins and Egyptians again watch
fascinated by the sight of their country's one-time strongman behind
bars in the defendants' cage.

If convicted, Mr. Mubarak could face a life sentence or have it
reduced. He could also be acquitted. Under Egyptian law, a defendant
cannot face a harsher sentence in a retrial, meaning the former
leader cannot face the death penalty.

The Court of Cassation did not immediately disclose its
reasoning, but legal experts said the appeal was granted over a
series of procedural problems in the conduct of the original trial.